Our children, our future.

Back in the 40s, aboard a trusty little plane, journalist Assis Chateaubriand arrived in the most remote towns of our backlands with a novelty all his own: "childcare centers." With the same restless genius and visionary spirit, the remarkable journalist and entrepreneur, brilliantly portrayed by Fernando Morais in a historic biography, sought to achieve several objectives with a single initiative: to receive children full-time so that their mothers could work outside the home, providing them with food, basic education, medical and dental care, as well as recreational activities at those centers.

While it may not have had the same pedagogical rigor as the fabulous "Park Schools" of another genius, the educator Anísio Teixeira, "Chatô" had the undeniable merit of supporting women's emancipation at a time when women did little or no work outside the home, guaranteeing them the peace of mind of knowing that their children would be well cared for, with basic health care and proper nutrition. There were more than 500 childcare centers throughout Brazil, the embryos of what is now the daycare center, so common and indispensable in the daily lives of millions of Brazilian mothers who work and need to leave their children with the certainty that they will be treated with respect and affection.

These are works that transcend generations and make history. Chateaubriand, despite all the criticism he received, the flaws attributed to him, and the many enemies he made, left a vast body of work in the social field, as the creator of the São Paulo Museum of Art, the fabulous MASP, the great promoter of our aviation with the launch of the aeronautical industry, the construction of the legendary "Paulistinha" training planes, and the dissemination of flying clubs throughout Brazil—initiatives of his own making and fruits of the impressive vision of a Brazilian passionate about his country. The most remarkable of all, however, is the one least attributed to him: the creation of daycare centers as institutions integral to the daily lives of Brazilians, especially working mothers.

President Dilma Rousseff, in yet another action of great social impact, announced the construction of 6.427 daycare centers and preschools by 2014, according to the needs of our municipalities. The expansion of the daycare network is part of the National Education Plan (PNE), whose goal is to serve all children aged 4 and 5 by 2016, and 50% of children aged 0 to 3 by 2020. This may seem like an ambitious goal, but it is entirely achievable for a government with social concerns and a clear commitment to its people. This was the case with the eight successful years of President Lula, and it is the case with the competent administration of President Dilma.

Dilma gives a humanist tone to her mandate when she emphasizes that the government has a duty to guarantee Brazilian children a much better future than their parents had. The president leaves no doubt about her vision for Brazil: with social justice, better income distribution, and a democracy of opportunities. This is the Brazil we dream of, initiated by Lula and consolidated by the election of the first woman to occupy the highest office in the nation. And children, receiving attention and affection, education and health, are the solid foundation of the victorious country we are building.

Another extraordinary initiative is the construction of 6.116 new school sports courts, with another 5 receiving roofing by 2014. This is fundamental so that we can implement full-time schooling in public schools throughout the country, receiving our children in the morning and returning them to their homes in the late afternoon. They will receive school instruction, balanced and high-quality meals, pedagogical guidance, and medical and dental care. A well-nourished child, cared for with affection and receiving constant attention from well-paid teachers, is the strongest project for the future that a nation can cherish.

A total of 1.466 cities across all regions of Brazil will receive the new educational units, including daycare centers and sports courts. Adding this to the 1.484 units already under construction in 1.040 municipalities, the established goal of 6 units will be easily surpassed. This is the opposite of the years of stagnation and neglect during the FHC and PSDB administrations, when public education was relegated to a glaringly inferior position, overlooked in favor of the neoliberal model, sabotaged in favor of private education, making life difficult for the poor and preventing the children of the people from accessing good education and quality schools. The PSDB treats education brutally: for more than 100 days, teachers in Minas Gerais have been on strike, deserving solemn contempt for their most just demands; In Paraná, during the government of Alvaro Dias, teachers were mercilessly massacred in front of the government palace, with horses, ferocious dogs and tear gas bombs, humiliated and driven away in a vile manner.

Today there are waiting lists of up to 52 names for a place in São Paulo's daycare centers. The state government, in the hands of the PSDB for two decades, has not invested as it should have in education and presents lamentable figures that negatively surprise Brazil... In contrast to this absurdity, the governments of the PT and allied parties invested heavily in public education, in the construction of new daycare centers, in the expansion of existing ones, in the improvement of sports courts and in the construction of thousands of new units.

And what we are doing, which has never been done by any other government, will still be insufficient given the pressing needs of a country that grows astonishingly every year. Every penny spent on education is not an expense: it is an investment. At the end of each day, when a Brazilian boy or girl returns home, in any neighborhood of this immense country, well-fed and after receiving a good school education, having been supported by well-paid and educated teachers, with access to adequate teaching materials and sports activities, be assured that Brazil is fulfilling its duty to the future.

In the country of Anísio Teixeira, Paulo Freire, Darcy Ribeiro, Josué de Castro, Milton Santos, of a teaching profession that never shirked its responsibilities, President Dilma Rousseff is doing her homework and at the same time giving us a great lesson: only education can build for tomorrow.

(*) Delúbio Soares is a professor

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